In the past, Seraphine received a thorough education as a princess of a country. At that time, the existence of a slave was essential as they were beaten instead of a noble.
Since they can’t beat a nobleman with a higher status, the slave of the same age was punished instead.
It was the same with Seraphine. Usually, each teacher in charge of a subject carried a matching slave with them. And the teachers who taught Seraphine had their self-esteem cracked at the fact that they had a wingless princess as a student.
Their anger was expressed differently, with Seraphine inflicting severe corporal punishment on the slave for even the slightest mistake. During Seraphine’s class, the sound of being beaten with a stick and the low sobbing of a slave’s cries were unstoppable.
After her class was over, the immobile slave often came out and interfered with the other princesses’ classes. In the end, the situation was settled by setting aside a slave for Seraphine.
This incident caused rumors that the second princess was stupid. People scoffed at how ridiculous it was to set aside a slave.
The majority of those expected that they would change their slaves every week from now on. Seraphine quietly tolerated all the rumors and accusations against her.
And the day after her first class. She called the slave boy late at night to avoid the public eye.
“I’m not trying to punish you, so don’t be too nervous and sit here.”
She didn’t even turn on the lights properly so that others wouldn’t find out that she had called the boy. There’s only one candle flickered in the darkened room.
The boy groaned, squirmed, leaned on the little light, and could not look at the princess. When he heard it was on order, he had no choice but to sit down on the chair.
“Take off your clothes.” The boy who paused for a moment followed obediently. His appearance, which was hidden by his clothes, was revealed. It was wounded again.
Seraphine leaned over and applied ointment to his arms and legs.
“You are suffering because I’m lacking.”
“…No royal family ever touches a slave with their bare hands.”
“Your wounds are mine. The shame is all mine, so don’t worry about it.”
The boy was thin because he had not eaten properly, and his body was small too.
I wonder if we’re similar in height?
Every time she saw the numerous scars on his bare legs, Seraphine felt guilty.
“I am okay. You just did what you had to do, so I hope you don’t get your hands dirty any longer.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“……”
“If you had been the corporal boy by my sisters, you would have avoided this terrible situation.”
“Princess…” The boy’s voice trembled slightly. Seraphine did not immediately feel the slight change in emotion.
“Did you do this for the previous slave?”
“No, I couldn’t.” Seraphine smiled sadly. The previous slaves were brought in by their teachers and had no chance to meet in person.
She had no choice but to watch with her eyes open as many slaves suffered because of her. Seraphine wanted to rescue the boy, who became her own scapegoat this time.
“What is your name?”
“……”
“Even if your freedom is deprived, you still have a name. I want to know your name.”
“There is none.”
For a boy born as a slave and lived as a slave his whole life, a name was a luxury.
Embarrassed, the boy bowed his head.
“Would you mind if I give you a name?”
“Thank you, but even if the princess gave me a name, no one would call me.”
“I am here,” Seraphine responded kindly.
Contrary to popular rumors, the second princess was neither stupid nor weak. The boy nodded his head as if possessed.
“Icarus.”
“……”
“It is the name of the man who had wings. Although neither you nor I have wings, there will come a day when it won’t matter if we don’t have them.”
“……Thank you.”
From that day on, Seraphine studied late into the night so that Icarus wouldn’t get beaten. She was slow compared to other sisters who showed remarkable growth in all fields. But her progress was steady, and she eventually kicked out all of her teachers —proof that she has nothing more to learn.
It had been exactly one year since Icarus had become her corporal slave boy. Until then, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Icarus remained silently by Seraphine’s side. However, she no longer needed a corporal slave.
According to the procedure, Icarus was now forced to live as a slave elsewhere. Seraphine asked her father for Icarus, who stayed by her side like her shadow.
Let Icarus be a free man.
It was her first and last wish. It was also the first request she made while seeing her father’s face.
Once a slave will forever be a slave.
So there was a lot of opposition. However, after the daughter said she would obey her father’s instructions, the king finally gave permission.
“When you become a free citizen, what is the first thing you want to do? Tell me, you must have a dream too.” To Seraphine’s question, Icarus answered without hesitation.
“I want to be the princess’s knight.”
The royal family could only have one knight through an oath —a subordinate to the royal family. People called him ‘Guardian of the Royal Family.’
There had never been a slave since it’s only for one person. And no human origins.
Even though Seraphine was a wingless princess, there were enough knights to support an honorable position. If Icarus, who had the lowest origins in the kingdom, became the princess’s knight, it would be a great success.
If it wasn’t for Icarus’s blind gaze looking up at her, she would have thought he was a man with an intense lust for power.
“I want to become the princess’s sword and shield and protect only you for the rest of my life.” The eyes staring straight at her were pure.
Then Seraphine thought that this boy could do anything.
“It won’t be easy.”
“I know.”
“It is not a place that is decided solely by your will. I want you to qualify to be my knight.” Nodding his head willingly, he enlisted in the Royal Knights so that the boy could receive knight training.
However, as a princess in a lower position, she did not give him much strength. The boy, who started from the bottom, overcame the contempt and envy pouring on him and shrugged it off.
And five years later, the boy became a young man and was drafted into war to defend the kingdom. The young man who sounded a victory message in the repeated wars was recognized for his abilities.
As a result, he became an excellent knight that no one could deny. Even the other princesses wanted to covet him.
On the day where everyone’s expectations were on his back, Icarus picked Seraphine as her one and only knight.
“I will become the princess’s wings.”
Then he knelt down on his knees to swear allegiance to her.
* * *
“Ah.”
As she recalled her past, Seraphine bumped into a passerby and staggered. If it hadn’t been for Joshua, who was at her side, she would have fallen to the floor.
“What are you so lost with?”
“I have something to think about. I’m sorry.”
My sister didn’t mind saying sorry as if nothing had happened.
As expected, her cold is the problem.
With that in mind, Joshua placed his hand on Seraphine’s forehead. He wouldn’t have touched her if it was before because she would slap it away as soon as he felt it.
But these days, she doesn’t mind contacting people, so he could act without hesitation.
“Why? Does your head hurt? As expected, your cold hasn’t healed yet…”
“It’s not like that.” Seraphine pushed Joshua away.
It wasn’t that he was harshly thrown, but it was a distant attitude. Joshua felt like something was going on, so he touched his sister’s forehead and looked at his hand that had fallen.
I think the temperature was a little high. I’m not sure because my hand went by like a flash.
‘Icarus killed my family.’
Meanwhile, Seraphine had a lot going on in her mind. When she looked at the history books, she thought maybe he was another Icarus.
Is the name Icarus the only one?
But looking at the portrait, she felt like her death had been confirmed.
After Seraphine’s death, he killed all of her family and created a new world.
I didn’t feel anger towards him. It feels like yesterday when my father pushed me into a melted iron.
Apart from that, the shocking truth was great.
“Sister, where are you going? If you want to get on the wagon and go home, this way, not that way.” Joshua hastily catches Seraphine, who’s lost in thought.
Then he said as if he was joking,
“Did you fell in love with a dead man?”
“Maybe.” At her sister’s blunt affirmation, Joshua snorted with a determined face.
“My sister doesn’t really have eyes for men. How can you fall in love with that face at first sight? Then someone will step on a fallen leaf and cry out, ‘I love you.’ ”
Although Icarus wasn’t ugly, it was such a disastrous evaluation. Joshua added one more thing when he realized Seraphine was paying attention after his provocation.
“Think about it. I’m much more handsome than the person in a portrait. But how can you hold onto someone and spit out that he’s handsome?” Seraphine smirked at his confident words.
“Yeah, you’re handsome because we look alike.”
Joshua and Seraphine look like siblings. Perhaps it was because they both resembled their mother a lot. While Joshua pondered whether to take it as a compliment or not, Seraphine widened her eyes.
At first glance, she seemed to have seen a blond man.
‘Icarus?’
It couldn’t be.
The people Seraphine knew were no longer in this world.
He can’t be here.
“Sister, sister! Where the hell are you going!”
Her body moved on its own. She couldn’t hear Joshua calling after her.
Seraphine, who ran recklessly, breathed heavily and grabbed the blonde man’s shoulder.